The Elusian Isles
The Elusian Isles are an archipelago in the Outer Rim. During the Second Age of Discovery, the Elusians were colonized by the Dupont Company, dragging all of the peoples of the Isles into the Elusian Civil War. Between the colonists, pirates, revolutionaries, natives and wildlife, the Elusians are far from a peaceful place. Early History Long after the First Age of Discovery, the Outer Rim was beset upon by nobles from across The Mainland, looking for untapped resources to secure in the name of their masters back home. Once such noble was Lord Adrien Etoufette, an ambitious landowner who sought a new life for himself and his family, far from the politics and subtleties of The Mainland. When he heard tell of a yet-unclaimed archipelago in the Outer Rim, he mobilized a colonizing force and sent them out to snatch it up. Two years later, he arrived with him family at Landfall Settlement, dubbing the land "Elusia." For centuries, the Elusians had been inhabited by multitudes of native tribes, spread throughout Patau, Kalu, Tarakk and Kontembi Islands. The Colonists landed on Patau, and quickly set about building settlements and subjugating the locals. Hieronymous Ridley I, the Lord's master-at-arms, struck a series of deals with the more predatory tribes, trading valuable equipment, supplies and coin in exchange for slaves from their weaker counterparts. Tselu the Elder was especially known for this practice, becoming personally responsible for the destruction of a half-dozen other tribes at least. The Uprising Years went on, and soon a fighting force had gathered to stand against the Colonists. A coalition of tribes banded together under the banner of Kalu, pushing north from Kalu Island across the Isles. First to fall was the tribe of Tselu the Elder, who was slain at the Battle of Vanlith. His son, Tselu the Younger, disappeared during the battle and was presumed dead. As the tide pushed eastward, the Colonists marshaled their troops and attempted to stand their ground. Though they were better-equipped, the imperial soldiers could do little to hold back the revolt. Soon after Vanlith, the front line had been pushed to the outskirts of Landfall. The Sacking of Landfall was the bloodiest battle of the war, in which bloodthirsty revolutionaries, drunk on revenge, pillaged and burned the Colonists' largest settlement to the ground. During the battle, Hieronymous Ridley was killed, with the native who slew him electing to take his name as an act of defiance. The new Ridley led a team of looters onto naval ships, and commandeered the fleeing passenger ship Agatha, filled to the rafters with civilians. The ship was then beached in the centre of town, destroying the city hall and leaving the evacuees ripe for the slaughter by the victorious revolutionaries. Ridley (that is, the new Ridley) became a figure to rally around, much to the chagrin of the newly formed Council of Kalu. Though effective, Ridley's methods were deemed brutal, ruthless and inexcusable. Mere days after the Sacking, rebel forces marched south, intent on confronting the Lord himself at his castle, Fort Etoufette. There, he hid behind his walls with his son, Jean-Luc. Lady Etoufette had fallen to disease two years before, and bore him no other children. Entrusting his safety to Hasenpfeffer Jones, his Native servant, Adrien sent Jean-Luc through the caves beneath the castle to escape the fast-approaching rebels. The First Siege of Etoufette dragged on for weeks. In the end, the defenders were starved to the point of surrender. Ridley rejected their cries for mercy, butchering the all who still lurked within the fort's walls. That bloody day, the war was won, and Elusia was free from the Empire's grip. The Free Elusians For some time, the Isles remained free of colonial control. In return for his deeds during the war, The Council of Kalu denounced Hieronymous Ridley as a murderer, cutthroat and war criminal. Rejected by his people, he would return to Landfall and fashion it into a free port, quickly turning to piracy. In the west, a legendary bandit by the name of Alexander Croup would name himself Bandit King, making his home deep in the Black Hills. In the south, the Council would establish the city of Kalu Cove; jewel of the Outer Rim. There, a man of any stripe could live free from the cloying hands of greater powers. Empires, Companies and other such things were banned from the city's enormous walls, and the Council would be there to ensure the safety, liberty and comfort of the people. As Kalu grew, travelers from across the Outer Rim would immigrate, adding to the patchwork of population and contributing commerce, labour, agriculture and defense. Nearby Kontembi Island was largely clear-cut for farmland, the fertile soils creating a bounty for the burgeoning port. This commercial traffic would become ripe for piracy, perpetrated by the Black Hills Gang and Ridley's Raiders alike. Years after it's establishment, Kalu's laws grew harder on crime. Sastor Mcnatty, a Mainlander businessman, ran afoul of the law and was publicly banished. With the money he still had, he built a barge on the channel between Kalu and Kontembi, establishing a free port of his own. Like Ridley before him, Mcnatty's Barge, dubbed "The Phoenician," became a hotbed of criminal activity. One year, a devastating earthquake beset the east half of the Elusians. What was once known as Tarakk Island was broken into dozens of smaller rocks, with the cracks between quickly filling into channels, rivers and canyons. While the abandoned Fort Etoufette remained largely untouched, the Garrison to the southeast was torn almost exactly in half. With no single landmass large enough to still be considered one island, the region came to be known as ShatterShore. Soon, the channels and peaks were inhabited by small fishing villages, bandit hideouts and isolated homesteads. For years, the largest of the pirate crews kept finding themselves in skirmishes over territory, cutting into profits and getting scores of good men killed. Hieronymous Ridley called a meeting for all the captains in Elusia, and held a tournament to determine the strongest among them. When the dust had settled, the four remaining captains were Ridley himself, Sastor Mcnatty, Alexander Croup and Chip Waverly, of Shattershore. Ridley declared the four of them the Council of Barons, a society tasked with keeping the crews away from each others' throats and consolidating power, if the need were ever to arise, to combat reprisal from the powers that be. Waverly would die later that year, killed in a traditional ShatterShorian duel. For decades, the East would see fourteen more Barons, each of them serving a short and ill-fated term. The Second Age of Discovery, and the Coming of the Duponts Years on from the Uprising, the Isles saw the coming of a new kind of colonist. One day, a representative of The Dupont Company arrived at the doorstep of the Council of Kalu, looking to purchase a plot of agricultural land on Kontembi Island. A few dozen more came and did the same, each of them hiding their true intentions. Soon after, the Dupont Company had bought up all of the land on the Island. In a move that was reluctantly sanctioned by the council, Kontembi was ceded to the company entirely, upon which was built Kontembi Station. Once news reached The Mainland of the Dupont Company's scheme, bookkeepers from The Empire became nervous of what would become of their problem child of a colony. At the time of The Uprising, The Empire could not spare the men to bulldoze through the Isles once more. The problem festered for a generation, until a man as shrewd as Henri Dupont set his eyes on the region. In a mitigating move, The Empire sent a division of soldiers to Kalu Cove to get everything under control. Shortly, they were apprehended and brought before the Council, who had a difficult decision to make. The Empire they faced now was not the same that they had fought off as young men; drawing reprisal now would surely mean the destruction of everything they had built. However, the Council also deduced that the Duponts would be trouble as well, and clearly had much more planned for the Isles than the dispassionate and distracted Empire. In a monumental decision, the Council agreed to reintegrate the Isles into imperial hands, only on paper. a Governor was named, and given a lavish manor on an island just north of Kalu. For some time after, the Council would work with the Governor to please the Empire, while leaning on him for protection from the ever-hungry Dupont Company. While their efforts would be, for the most part, successful, The Council could not completely hold back the Duponts. in the coming years, they would negotiate the installation of a small quartermaster's shop in the city of Kalu, for use by company men on leave in town. As well, when reports reached the Council of the company digging into the base of Mount Vanlith to establish a mine, there was little they could do. Hartford's Hazards For a time, there was stability in the Elusians. Though a nuisance, the Council of Barons was mostly busying itself with internal disputes and turning over Dupont shipments for coin. Kalu was attempting to shore up its borders on the island, and much of Patau Island was uninhabited wilderness. Then, by chance, a fateful trip would be made by a small Dupont ship, bound for Kontembi from Barnsmouth Station, far to the north. Like many before it, the ship would be ambushed by The Black Hills Gang, sinking in the ensuing skirmish. Of the survivors, however, was a man by the name of Hollis Calloway. Bitter from his recent demotion by the Duponts, Hollsi hatched a plan to assume a new identity and become a pirate, using a stolen Dupont Captain's ledger to predict shipments with near-perfect accuracy. He brought together a crew of misfits and began raiding, earning the attention of Sastor Mcnatty. Soon, Calloway was sailing under the Mcnatty banner, earning them both a mountain of coin. Then, on one such job, he ran afoul of Lucius Doherty, pirate Baron of the West. After a sudden and unexpected battle, Hollis survived, with both Lucius Doherty and Terrence Garrison, Kalu's pick to replace the aging Governor, dead. Sastor cut Hollis lose, and days later he found himself inadvertently killing James Adler, the governor himself, as well. Both deaths were the result of careful manipulation by the Dupont Company, who were angling to replace Adler with their own pick, Hudson Munro. Munro had already worked for Dupont in the past, and planned to greatly increase their influence on the Elusians. Unwittingly, Hollis had been a highly effective pawn in the Company's plans. The Council of Barons Months went by, and soon Hollis had established himself as new ruler of Fort Etoufette. However, regrettably, he earned the ire of Lucky Jim Haverstram, Baron of the East. In a sudden betrayal, Haverstram attempted to have Hollis killed in Cannoneer's Alley, his stronghold. Hollis defeated Haverstram, killing him and bringing the number of surviving barons down to two. In the ensuing Baronsmoot, Hollis was named new Baron of the East, with the mysterious Sheng Chi of the Tong filling Doherty's vacant seat. Chi would begin her career as baron by laying siege to Kalu Cove, as punishment for them denying her entry to the city. Hollis, Sastor Mcnatty and the people of Kalu came together to fight her off. That winter, Hudson Munro would be named Governor of Elusia. Company Man Soon after, news reached the Isles that the Dupont Armada had changed course, and was headed right for them. The trickle of ships from the Mainland began to grow, which at first was a boon to the Council of Barons. Soon, however, Hieronymous Ridley declared a state of emergency, conscripting crews from across the Isles to join him in his fight against the Company. Meanwhile, Hollis and the Kalu Alliance began running sabotage against Dupont's landbound forces, raiding Kontembi Station and the town of Colkirk. Hudson Munro left for the Mainland to negotiate a solution with the powers that be, and the Island fell into war. The Elusian Civil War began with the Battle of Shipwreck Shoal, in which a division of the Dupont Navy clashed with pirate forces under the command of Hieronymous Ridley. Hollis sent men to shore up the defense, but secretly plotted against Ridley. He had come to learn that the Baron was dealing in slaves, something he, Kalu and the Council of Barons all purported to outlaw. Hollis sent teams in secret to liberate work camps on Patau Island, sabotaging Ridley's efforts. In response, Ridley let slip to the Duponts the key to breaking Fort Etoufette, thought to be too sturdy to siege. The Hazards were taken completely by surprise, as Dupont soldiers sapped the tunnels below the castle and brought much of its defenses crumbling into the sea. Hollis led a caravan of survivors out of the area, but lost both the castle and many of his best men. Now working directly with Kalu, Hollis led a daring raid on Colkirk, kidnapping its mayor and a group of visiting Dupont officials. Hollis hoped to scare off the Duponts entirely, but his gesture was a minuscule one. The scheme ended in disaster, forcing Hollis to return to Kalu just in time for Hudson Munro to make a return of his own. Munro appeared in Kalu, announcing that by order of The Empire, All of Elusia had been bought by the Dupont Company, in a move that would come to be known as Adrien's Purchase. The townspeople then rioted, killing Munro and launching into the Second Battle of Kalu Cove. This time, however, largely a land battle. Soon, the people of Kalu were overwhelmed, and the Alliance of Mcnatties, Hazards and Watchmen had to abandon the position. Now, decentralized and afloat in a small fleet of ships, the leaders of the Alliance had nowhere left to go. That same week, the defensive line at the Shoal was broken, and the Duponts laid waste to what was left of Ridley's fleet. Hollis took his last ship and raced to the Bilge, to find it burning. Rumor has it he spotted a fleeing Hieronymous Ridley on the horizon, and set course to catch him. Whatever happened, he was never seen again. Ridley, however, was arrested by a passing Dupont patrol, and was shipped off to Southpoint to face trial. In the confusion, Hollis resurfaced as a Dupont, and was as well returned to The Mainland. The Alliance reportedly disappeared during this time as well, leaving all of Elusia at the mercy of the Dupont Company. Ever since, it has remained one of many Dupont colonies, where commerce, settlement peace are available to all manner of heavy-walleted Mainlanders.